Mass market baccarat ended 2016 with an increase in gross revenue while the mainstay of Macau casinos, VIP baccarat, saw a year on year decline, according to figures released by the region’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
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Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said on Tuesday that the gaming tax rate was not the only factor in determining the local gaming industry’s competitiveness.
Leong made the remarks on the sidelines of a press conference at the Macau Chamber of Commerce about local gaming operators’ procurement partnerships with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Lawmakers passed on Tuesday a motion by lawmaker-cum-unionist Jose Pereira Coutinho to express the legislature’s deep sorrow over the demise of former Portuguese president Mário Soares who passed away in Lisbon on January 7, aged 92.
Discussion over gaming tax rates in Macau has prompted the director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) to announce the possibility of amending existing casino taxation laws. Such an amendment would occur before the casino license renewal period due in the next decade.
Local think tank Collective Wisdom Policy Centre on Monday slammed the government for failing to come up with plans and concrete measures to achieve its objective of transforming Macau into a smart city.
The government laid out a string of plans and measures aiming to convert Macau into a smart city in the long term, in its first-ever Five-Year Development Plan, which was released in September last year.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Chau Wai Kuong said on Monday that drug-dealing cases recorded by his criminal investigation force rose to 122 last year from 85 in 2015, an increase of 43.5 per cent.
Chau revealed the figure during a Chinese New Year gathering and lunch for the media at the PJ headquarters in Zape.
The government should come up with a timetable to amend the Labour Relations Law concerning employees’ holiday entitlements and paternity leave, lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I said on Sunday.
Lei made the remarks on the sidelines of a two-month 2017 Union Day campaign, which started on sunday, organised by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, at Macau Kung Luen Vocational & Technical Middle School.
A non-resident worker from Vietnam was caught on January 4 for abusing a cat, the first case under the city’s first-ever animal protection law with took effect on September 1 last year, a Public Security Police (PSP) spokesperson has announced.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac pledged on Thursday that the government will further promote the development of the convention and exhibition industry, with priority being given to the organisation of conferences.
Leong also vowed that the government will strive to bring more “good quality” international conventions and exhibitions to the city.